RALEIGH - With the state budget about ready to head to negotiations between the House and the Senate, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction says what's she has seen so far is not serving the students of the state well. June Atkinson told Barlow Herget of SGRTODAY.com that the claims of adding new teachers doesn't quite tell the whole story.

Atkinson says that when lawmakers say they are adding teachers with the state budget, they are only adding enough to keep up with growth, not to maintain current student-teacher ratios. Teacher salaries are also now near the bottom, since other states have been giving reasonable raises while North Carolina has not. Atkinson says she is concerned that she's heard of teachers whose salaries are so low they are having to take part-time jobs to supplement their income to make ends meet.

Furthermore, Atkinson says there's also some sleight of hand when it comes to granting money to schools, but then asking for some back. “The discretionary cut means ‘OK, you’ve gotten all these funds but you decide how you are going to return back to the state approximately $369 million.'”

This means that several other educational items are on the chopping block as well, June Atkinson says, such as “instructional materials and supplies, student support services such as counselors, social workers, psychologists, [and] media specialists.”